Silver Star for Valor to Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole

Face of Defense: Marine Earns Silver Star for Valor
By Marine Corps Cpl. Jeff Drew
2nd Marine Division
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.
July 12, 2012

He watched as five Marine buddies beside him were cut down by enemy machine gun fire during a fierce firefight against insurgents in Marjah, Afghanistan, nearly two years ago.

Within seconds, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole joined his brothers-in-arms on the ground as a three-round burst lifted his 200-pound frame and 80 pounds of gear completely off the ground, moved him five feet in the air, and slammed him into the dirt -- all in less than half a second.

Cole, a Woodstock, Ga., native, had taken three rounds into the ceramic plates protecting his body. He was down, but not wounded. The injured Marines made their way into a nearby canal for cover as Cole provided suppressive fire with his rifle. With half of the Marines on the patrol wounded, they tried radioing for extraction, but couldn’t reach anyone. No help was on the way and approximately 20 insurgents entrenched only 30 meters from their position were headed in their direction and they were out for blood.

The morning of August 17, 2010, in Afghanistan started early for Cole. He woke at 4 a.m. to stand four hours of guard duty. As he finished his time on post, an early-morning patrol returned and he helped cook food for them before cleaning his rifle and restocking on water. He heard through the grapevine about another patrol going out soon and he wanted in on the action. In the three and a half weeks that his unit, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, had been in-country, Cole had already been on 46 missions, luckily without incident.

The patrol that changed his life forever consisted of six Marines from his squad as well as a Navy corpsman and three Marines from a Professional Mentor Team, a group primarily responsible for training and working with Afghan National Security Forces. It was a reconnaissance mission -- to photograph the local landscape and populace and learn as much as they could about the area. At 1:30 p.m. the patrol made their way to a location they had visited just the night before. They spoke with local Afghans and searched mud compounds. Around 3:30 p.m. they left the final compound, then a crack of gunfire filled the air and they found themselves in the fight for their lives. The patrol was pinned down by heavy enemy fire; five Marines were wounded and they were unable to contact anyone on the radio.

“Thirty minutes into the firefight, I heard screams that the enemy was advancing toward us,” Cole said as he recounted his actions that day. “I took a machine gun from my buddy who was shot and gave him my rifle. I put the machine gun in my shoulder and started firing. Then I got up on the road and shot from my hip in a sweeping motion from left to right. I shot 150 rounds off, and as I did, I was shot three more times. A round hit my plates again and two rounds went through my arm.”
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